presidential campaign

Former presidential candidate and Pennsylvania Sen.Rick Santorum came to the Capitol to speak at the conservative New York Family Research Foundation. In a question and answer session with reporters, Santorum offered some encouragement to former New York Gov. George Pataki, who’s been exploring a possible run for the presidency.

Santorum says he was considered an underdog in 2012, and he won 11 primaries, and for a time was favored to win the nomination .

Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo died on New Year’s Day, just hours after his son, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, gave his inaugural address for his second term in office. Mario Cuomo was 82.

Mario Cuomo, born to immigrant parents who ran a grocery store in Queens, almost became a major league baseball player, before entering law school and turning to politics. He was lieutenant governor under Hugh Carey, and won a Democratic primary against then-New York City Mayor Ed Koch to become governor of New York in 1982.